Digital Commons Network^™

Snfa, The Dictyostelium Discoideum Snf1/Ampk Protein Kinase, Sandy Sung

Biology

SNF1/AMPK protein kinases are a conserved group of eukaryotic serine/threonine protein kinases that mediate a variety of stress responses, including the response to nutrient deprivation. This report describes the isolation of snfA, the Dictyostelium discoideum SNF1/AMPK ortholog, and an examination of snfA protein function. snfA is a single copy gene that encodes a predicted 80.5 kD polypeptide. A single 2.8 kb snfA transcript was present at nearly constant levels during vegetative growth and all stages of development. The predicted snfA protein consists of three domains: an amino terminal kinase domain that is highly conserved in other SNF1/AMPK protein kinases, …

Contributions Of Domain Four Segment Four Charges To Sodium Channel Activity, Jennifer L. Abbruzzese

Biology

Ionic currents flowing through voltage-gated sodium (Na⁺) channels generate the rising phase of action potentials. This process is essential for normal cellular excitability and it is important to investigate the structure/function relationships that allow Na⁺ channels to change conformations in response to membrane potential. The Na⁺ channel skeletal muscle (SkM) α subunit is made of four homologous domains (DI-IV), with six transmembrane segments (S1-6) in each domain. One transmembrane segment in the channel, segment four in domain four (DIVS4), appears to make critical contributions to several aspects of channel activity. In this study, wild type (WT) …

Fisheries Research Report No. 119 - Final Report, Frdc Project 95/037: The Biology And Stock Assessment Of The Tropical Sardine, Sardinella Lemuru, Off The Mid-West Coast Of Western Australia, Daniel J. Gaughan, Ronald W. Mitchell

Fisheries Research Reports

Exploratory fishing for the tropical sardine, Sardinella lemuru, offshore of Geraldton on the midwest coast of Western Australia in the early 1990s, led to the establishment of a developmental purse seine fishery in this region. This fishery showed potential for substantial expansion, but as there was no information on S. lemuru in WA there was a need to undertake research during the developmental period. The biology and fishery for S. lemuru in WA were therefore investigated over a three year period between July 1995 and June 1998 with the aim of providing stock assessment advice.

The biology of S. lemuru …

Fisheries Research Report No. 121 - Synopsis Of The Biology And Exploitation Of The Blue Swimmer Crab, Portunus Pelagicus Linnaeus, In Western Australia, Mervi I. Kangas

Fisheries Research Reports

This report summarises the existing studies which have provided information on the biology, population characteristics and exploitation of the blue swimmer crab, Portunus pelagicus, in Western Australia. Gaps in the existing knowledge are also highlighted to assist in targeting new research initiatives. Portunus pelagicus matures at about one year and in temperate regions females mate only once a year. This is because mature crabs moult only once a year. It appears from studies to date that Western Australian crabs are one genetic population. This is being further investigated. Migration of the blue swimmer crab occurs between estuaries and the ocean …

Outcrossing Rate And Inbreeding Depression In The Perennial Yellow Bush Lupine, Lupinus Arboreus (Fabaceae), Pamela Kittelson, John L. Maron

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Little is known about the breeding systems of perennial Lupinus species. We provide information about the breeding system of the perennial yellow bush lupine, Lupinus arboreus, specifically determining self-compatibility, outcrossing rate, and level of inbreeding depression. Flowers are self-compatible, but autonomous self-fertilization rarely occurs; thus selfed seed are a product of facilitated selfing. Based on four isozyme loci from 34 maternal progeny arrays of seeds we estimated an outcrossing rate of 0.78. However, when we accounted for differential maturation of selfed seeds, the outcrossing rate at fertilization was lower, ∼0.64. Fitness and inbreeding depression of 11 selfed and outcrossed families …

The Impacts Of A Nonindigenous Marine Predator In A California Bay, Edwin D. Grosholz, Gregory M. Ruiz, Cheryl A. Dean, Kim A. Shirley, John L. Maron, Peter G. Connors

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Coastal marine ecosystems worldwide are being altered rapidly by the invasion of nonindigenous species. Unlike terrestrial and freshwater systems, the impacts of an invading species have never been quantified on multiple trophic levels for a marine food web. We measured the impact of the nonindigenous green crab, Carcinus maenas, on a coastal marine food web in central California and found that this predator exerted strong “top-down” control, significantly reducing the abundances of several of the 20 invertebrate species monitored over a 9-yr period. Densities of native clams, Nutricola tantilla and Nutricola confusa, and native shore crabs, Hemigrapsus oregonensis, showed 5-fold …

Integrating Development With Evolution: A Case Study With Beetle Horns, Douglas J. Emlen

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Aspects Of Insect Conservation: Community Effects Of Habitat Patch Edge, Area, And Shape, Sharon L. Osowski

Biology

The findings of this study have implications for such conservation issues such as habitat fragmentation, reserve planning, and habitat conservation and ecosystem management. This study attempted to answer questions, using an empirical study, on aspects of habitat fragmentation. Current theory about reserve design suggests that: 1) larger areas have higher diversity/abundance than smaller areas; 2) square patches have higher diversity/abundance than linear patches; and 3) patches with hospitable matrices have higher diversity/abundance than inhospitable matrices. This study also adds to the knowledge regarding invertebrate responses to fragmentation. The experimental design was a split-plot multifactorial study. The edge factor had three …

Molecular And Morphological Identification Of An Endophytic Fusarium Isolated From Wheat And Characterization Of Its Laccases In Comparison To Affiliated Fusarium Isolates, Sun Il Kwon

Biology

A fungal isolate present as a seed endophyte caused disease in wheat and other cereals when grown under stressed conditions. The isolate was identified as a member of the Asian clade of the Gibberella fujikuroi species complex in the genus Fusarium, members of which are known as plant pathogens and producers of mycotoxins. The closest relative to the fungus was Fusarium proliferatum, although none of the previously described species was identical in all morphological and molecular phylogenetic characters. At least six laccase isozymes were detected in mycelial extracts or from extracellular culture filtrates of the Fusarium-wheat isolate. …

Effect Of Multiple Founder Events On Genetic Variation: Transplanted Populations Of Bighorn Sheep (Ovis Canadensis), Bernadette N. Graham

Biology

The use of reintroductions has become a widely used tool in the conservation of bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis). In an effort to reestablish populations of bighorn sheep in Utah, 23 individuals from two existing populations in British Columbia, Canada, Tranquille and Harper Ranch, were transplanted to Antelope Island in the Great Salt Lake of Utah. The two British Columbian populations had been founded from a native population near William's Lake, also in British Columbia. Small transplanted populations may have lower levels of genetic variation relative to the source population due to the chance loss of alleles following the …

Stomatal Responses In Intact Leaves: Stomatal Interactions Within An Areole, Freya W. Denne

Biology

The objective of this project was to study the interactions among adjacent stomata in response to environmental conditions. Fully expanded and intact leaves from cocklebur (Xanthium strumarium L.) plants grown in a controlled-environment greenhouse were clamped to a microscope stage for observation. Changes in stomatal apertures in response to changes in photon flux density (PFD) and evaporative demand (Δw, the water vapor mole fraction gradient between leaf and air) were measured. Increases in PFD elicited no significant coordinating responses among stomata. Responses of stomata to decreases in PFD were suggestive of coordination, but not conclusive. However, stomatal …

Teaching The Ethics Of Biology, David Harris Phd, Carol K. Johansen

Faculty Publications

Discusses the basic principles of ethics and ethical decision making as applied to biology. Ethical issues associated with biology; Theoretical basis of ethical decision-making; Models of ethical decision-making; Social implications of scientific experimentation and discovery.

Molecular Evolution Of Odorant-Binding Protein Genes Os-E And Os-F In Drosophila, Daria S. Hekmat-Scafe, Robert L. Dorit, John R. Carlson

Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

The Drosophila olfactory genes OS-E and OS-F are members of a family of genes that encode insect odorant-binding proteins (OBPs). OBPs are believed to transport hydrophobic odorants through the aqueous fluid within olfactory sensilla to the underlying receptor proteins. The recent discovery of a large family of olfactory receptor genes in Drosophila raises new questions about the function, diversity, regulation, and evolution of the OBP family. We have investigated the OS-E and OS-F genes in a variety of Drosophila species. These studies highlight potential regions of functional significance in the OS-E and OS-F proteins, which may include a region required …

An Ulstrastructural Study Of Acetabularia Acetabulum, Rachel Vangilder

Master's Theses

Calcification within the cell and the cell wall Acetabularia acetabulum, a large single cell alga, is examined through an ultrastructural investigation, electron diffraction, and an elemental analysis. These methods suggest that amorphous calcium carbonate is located adjacent to and within the cell wall. The location of the crystals within and directly outside the cell wall suggests the calcium is obtained from the surrounding environment. Fibrillar structures are seen through SEM in areas where calcification is occurring. This fibrillar material appears to serve as the organic matrix where calcification initiates. Intracellularly electron dense materials is seen in the chloroplasts. This …

Invertebrate Carcasses As A Resource For Competing Aedes Albopictus And Aedes Aegypti (Diptera : Culicidae), M P. Daugherty, B W. Alto, Steven A. Juliano

Faculty Publications – Biological Sciences

However, little is known of the role of these carcasses in other containers, which also receive leaf fall and stemflow inputs. This experiment investigated effects of accumulated invertebrate carcasses as a resource for two competing mosquitoes, Aedes albopictus (Skuse) and Aedes aegypti (L.) whether either species differentially benefited from accumulated carcasses, and if such a benefit affected interspecific competition. First, we measured accumulation of invertebrate carcasses in standard containers at a field site. We then used a replacement series with five different species ratios at the same total density: and varied the input of invertebrate carcasses [dead Drosophila melanogaster (Meigen) …

On The Nature Of Norms: Biology, Morality, And The Disruption Of Order, Owen D. Jones

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

This essay discusses the legal implications of bio-behavioral underpinnings to norms, morality, and economic order. It first discusses the recent book "The Great Disruption: Human Nature and the Reconstitution of Social Order," in which Francis Fukuyama explores the importance of evolved human nature to the reconstruction of social order and a thriving economy. It then addresses the extent to which we can usefully view law-relevant norms as products of evolutionary - as well as economic - processes.

Nesting Of Rose-Throated Becard Pachyramphus Aglaiae (Passeriformes: Incertae Sedis) And Clay-Colored Robin Turdus Grayi (Passeriformes: Turdidae) In Hidalgo County, Texas, Timothy Brush

School of Integrative Biological & Chemical Sciences (Formerly Dept. of Biology)

No abstract provided.

Identification Of Fungal Pathogens Of Grasshoppers, M. J. Bidochka, Donald W. Roberts

Biology Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Altered T Cell-Mediated Immunity And Infectious Factors In Autism, Yong Hu

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Three major questions were addressed in this dissertation: 1) Do immune abnormalities associated with autism primarily alter CD4+ T cell-mediated or humoral immune responses? 2) Are specific T cell clones expanded in autism? 3) Which, if any, infectious agents play a role in autism?

CD4+ T cell-mediated (Th1) or humoral (Th2) immune responses can be distinguished on the basis of the cytokines expressed. CD4+ T-cells secrete interleukin type 2 (IL-2) and interferon-γ, whereas a Th2 response is associated with secretion of interleukin type 4(IL-4). mRNA extracted from peripheral blood mononuclear nuclear cells (PBMC) showed significantly increased levels of IL-2 and …

Mutagenesis And Cloning Of Photosynesis Genes Of The Filamentous Bacterium, Chloroflexus Aurantiacus, Kristi L. Berger '00

Honors Projects

Chloroflexus aurantiacus is a green non-sulfur bacterium that preferentially grows photosynthetically under lighted, anaerobic conditions. The biosynthetic pathway for one of the photosynthetic pigments, bacteriochlorophyll c, is not well understood but may share common steps with the better understood bacteriochlorophyll a pathway. Cultures of C. aurantiacus were mutagenized in order to produce photosynthetic pigment mutants to be used later in the determination of intermediate compounds in the pathway for bacteriochlorophyll c synthesis. However, mutants with photosynthetic pigment deficiencies were not produced due to experimental difficulties. The photosynthesis genes of C. aurantiacus, such as the bchXYZ genes, are of evolutionary interest …

An Assay For The Estimation Of Organic Content In Unknown Biological Samples, William J. Schneider '00

Honors Projects

Potassium dichromate, in an acidic solution, will oxidize organic material. The reduction to the chromium ion is associated with a color change, which can be measured as a change in absorbance using a spectrophotometer. The degree of change is linearly related to the total energy contained in a sample and this information can be used to predict the energy content of unknown samples. However, the slopes of these relationships are significantly different for carbohydrates and proteins. It is hypothesized that these variations are due to differences in the reaction kinetics and that these differences can be used to predict the …

Test Of Intron Predictions Reveals Novel Splice Sites, Alternatively Spliced Mrnas And New Introns In Meiotically Regulated Genes Of Yeast, Carrie Davis, Leslie Grate, Marc Spingola, Manuel Ares

Biology Department Faculty Works

Correct identification of all introns is necessary to discern the protein-coding potential of a eukaryotic genome. The existence of most of the spliceosomal introns predicted in the genome of Saccharomyces cerevisiae remains unsupported by molecular evidence. We tested the intron predictions for 87 introns predicted to be present in non-ribosomal protein genes, more than a third of all known or suspected introns in the yeast genome. Evidence supporting 61 of these predictions was obtained, 20 predicted intron sequences were not spliced and six predictions identified an intron-containing region but failed to specify the correct splice sites, yielding a successful prediction …

Conjugal Transfer Of A Transcriptional Fusion Plasmid Containing The Toluene 2-Monooxygenase Gene Promoter From An E.Coli Host To A Parental Strain, Burkholderia Cepacia G4, Ross Martin Vander Noot

Honors Capstone Projects and Theses

No abstract provided.

The Age Of The Woolly Rhino From Dream Cave, Derbyshire, Uk, Donald A. Mcfarlane, Joyce Lundberg, Derek C. Ford

WM Keck Science Faculty Papers

The Dream Cave woolly rhinoceros, Coelodonta antiquitatis, is a "classic" specimen of a "cold-stage" fossil fauna from central England. The find was illustrated and described by Dean William Buckland in his seminal tome Reliquiae Diluvianae (1823) during the first half of the 19th century, and made a significant contribution to the development of Buckland's views on the origin of extinct and extirpated fossil vertebrates. The report presents the first, albeit indirect, radiometric dates on the specimen, and argues that the animal fell into the cave just before 37,000 years BP, during the middle of Marine Isotope Stage 3 Interstadial (41 …

Variation And Heritability Of Phenology In The Fungus Monilinia Vaccinii-Corymbosi On Blueberry, Jeffery S. Lehman, Peter V. Oudemans

Biology and Earth Science Faculty Scholarship

The germination of field-collected pseudosclerotia and the development of apothecia from eight New Jersey populations of the mummy berry fungus Monilinia vaccinii-corymbosi were evaluated under controlled conditions in the greenhouse. Development data for apothecia were used to describe the timing of apothecium formation and to estimate broad- and narrow-sense heritabilities of fungal phenology. Mean development times for the formation of apothecia ranged from 35.4 to 54.7 days. The mean development times for populations collected from early-season cv. Weymouth ranged from 35.4 to 39.6 days and were significantly shorter than the development times for three of the four populations collected from …

Isolating Pcr-Quality Dna From Human Feces With A Soil Dna Kit, Brian G. Clement, Christopher L. Kitts

Biological Sciences

No abstract provided.

Disruption Of The Borrelia Burgdorferi Gac Gene, Encoding The Naturally Synthesized Gyra C-Terminal Domain, Scott W. Knight, Betsy J. Kimmel, Christian H. Eggers, D. Scott Samuels

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

The C-terminal domain of the A subunit of DNA gyrase, which we term Gac, is naturally synthesized in Borrelia burgdorferi as an abundant DNA-binding protein. Full-length GyrA, which includes the C-terminal domain, is also synthesized by the spirochete and functions as a subunit of DNA gyrase, We have disrupted synthesis of Gac as an independent protein and demonstrated that it is not essential for growth in a coumarin-resistant background. We detected no alterations in DNA maintenance, condensation, or topology In B. burgdorferi lacking this small DNA-binding protein.

Abnormal Pigmentation In A Franklin's Gull, Philip C. Chu

Biology Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Target-And Stage-Dependent Influences On Axonal Outgrowth Of An Identified Motorneuron In Leech Cns Explants, April Crowley

Masters Theses

The neural circuit that controls rhythmic contraction of the hearts in the medicinal leech, Hirudo medicinalis, provides an amenable model to investigate pathfinding and target selection. The bilaterally paired heart tubes (HT) in leech are eventually innervated by the heart excitor motomeuron (HE) following a period of remodeling that requires the presence of the HT. To begin characterizing possible HT-derived cues, co-cultures of CNS with innervated HT have been used. Previous work demonstrated that young, but not adult, HT was able to support profuse general outgrowth, but the HE extended few projections onto HT of any age. Current studies …

Identification And Classification Of Coryneform Bacteria Isolated From Bovine Mammary Glands, Jeffrey L. Watts

Dissertations

Coryneform bacteria are frequently isolated from bovine mastitis and these infections are associated with economic losses. Corynehacterium bovis, a lipid requiring species, has been the most frequently isolated coryneform from the milk of infected bovine mammary glands. However, the taxonomic status of this organism is uncertain. In the current study, a polyphasic approach was used to identify coryneform bacteria isolated from bovine mastitis and determ ine the phylogenetic relationships among the identified species. A total of 212 coryneform bacteria isolated from bovine mastitis was obtained from mastitis reference laboratories in the United States and Canada. Presumptive identification based upon …